Once upon a time, college football in March was about, well, football. Players fought for positions, coaches adjusted to new rosters, fans blabbed about which teams would make progress in the spring en route to a BCS berth come fall.

But 2011 has replaced all the ball talk with a winter of woe.

It has brought investigations into the recruiting practices of Oregon and Auburn, the programs that squared off in January’s BCS national title game.

It has left Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, nicknamed The Senator in part for his perceived high integrity, admitting to lying about his knowledge of Buckeyes committing NCAA violations.

It has given a death sentence to two landmark Auburn oak trees poisoned by a fan of archrival Alabama. It has seen 13 Iowa Hawkeyes needing a week in hospital after a series of offseason conditioning workouts, with no official reason for how they ended up there.

Like usual, people continue their chatter about college football. They just don’t have anything good to say anymore.

The rule-breaking has made the NCAA again look powerless and prompted even the most naïve fans to wonder if clean programs exist among the championship contenders. The awful events such as what occurred in Iowa’s weight room have led to further contemplation -- how great is the cost of a win-at-all-costs philosophy?

Former Florida coach Urban Meyer told The New York Times earlier this year that college football sat at a crossroads. That’s an insider being careful with his comments. Let’s un-filter Meyer -- there’s more to loathe about the sport right now than there is to love.

Instead of buzz about Nebraska’s prospects as it enters the Big Ten, the debate is how Ohio State’s suspended starters and still-to-be-fully-punished coach will affect the conference race. Instead of predicting who’ll vie for the Heisman and play for the crystal ball, there’s concern that the man and team that won those awards last year will be forced someday to give them back.

The bad news offseason piggybacked the tail end of the 2010 season, when Cecil Newton sapped college football’s momentum like no other man in recent memory. Cam Newton’s father appeared to blatantly cheat by trying to sell his son’s signature for a letter of intent. Somehow, the player broke no NCAA rules.

Newton’s actions stained college football, and the sins of early 2011 have made that stench more toxic. And none of this offseason’s spotlight parties will admit they’ve done anything wrong.

Auburn has stayed silent on the Newton case and its coaching staff relationship with Louisiana-based suspected street agent Sean Nelson. Oregon officials essentially say their football program’s $25,000 payment to a scouting service run by the mentor of at least one Ducks signee is common in the sport. Jim Tressel doesn’t view himself in any less regard after shaming himself and humiliating his university. At least Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz apologized.

We see the ills of the game, and we search for change. We find no obvious answers. The increase of competitive programs, the dollars at stake, and the intensifying fan interest only ratchet up the pressure to win. All the problems are growing faster than the NCAA’s efforts to stop them. New association president Mark Emmert and his staff’s effort might be noble and futile at the same time.

Meanwhile, negative news serves as college football’s significant story lines. Forget students and athletes; scandal and adversity have exposed the sorry side of sport and too many of its principle characters.

Once upon a time, what happened on the field mattered most this time of year. The best college football fans long for that time again.